It is with great sadness we inform you of the sudden demise of Dr.
Dhirubhai J Gadhia who was a much loved and long standing devotee of Bhagavan
Shri Sathya Sai Baba. After a very brief and sudden illness he merged
with Swami this morning at around 9.30 am UK time.

Dr. Gadhia who penned the book 'SAI SMARAN' had been with Swami since
1960 and had shared many wonderful times at the Divine Lotus Feet of
Bhagavan.

Dr. Gadhia was born in
Kampala (Uganda. East Africa) and had attended the Bhavan's College in
Andheri, Bombay (Mumbai), before starting his medical studies in
KasturbaMedicalCollege in Manipal, near Mangalore. It was at
about that time (1960) that he had heard of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
and made frequent visits to Baba's ashram in Puttaparti and soon became
an ardent devotee.

After qualifying (M.B.B.S.) and with Baba's blessings, Dr Gadhia
travelled to England in 1963 and obtained the D.T.M.& H. diploma in
Liverpool. On returning to India in 1964, he was a lecturer in M.P. ShahMedicalCollege in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Always inspired by Sai Baba, he dedicated himself to serving the people
everywhere — in Mangalore,
Gujarat, and other places - by spreading Baba's message
and teachings through Bhajans (devotional singing), study circles and
service activities.

In 1968, Baba asked him to return to East Africa where he served for three years as the
Chief Medical Officer in H.H. The Aga Khan Dispensary in Arusha, Tanzania, before opening the Aum Sri Sathya Sai
Dispensary, also in Arusha.
Apart from his medical work, he was an indefatigable promoter of Sai
activities wherever he went.

In May 1974 he was miraculously rescued by Baba after a serious car
accident near Arusha. In 1978 he was still suffering from severe pain
and disability due to the injuries sustained in the accident and, during
a visit to
India, was cured by Baba of both pain and disability.
In 1979 he left Tanzania and settled down in Leicester, England.

Dr Gadhia had surrendered himself as a loving servant of God. For this
reason he referred to himself as SAI CHARAN DASANU DAS, which means 'the
servant of all devotees at the Feet of Lord Sai.'

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba had transformed him forty years ago and
made him an instrument for his selfless love for all - Dr D J
Gadhia had been promoting, at the grassroots level in all continents,
Sai Baba's message of Love and Service to Humanity. He was therefore an
instrument that had brought many thousands of people to Beloved Swami.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us all offer our sincere and heartfelt
prayers to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to shower courage and strength
to his wife Nandaben and the Gadhia family to bear this enormous loss.